IoT connectivity company Blues has appointed Alistair Fulton as its chief operating officer (COO) and vice president of ecosystem. Until last year, Fulton led Semtech’s IoT division.

Fulton will oversee the continued evolution of Blues’ go-to-market strategy in the global industrial IoT market, as well as facilitate the ongoing growth of the company’s customer and partnership ecosystem. 

Fulton (www.linkedin.com/in/alistairfulton) brings over 25 years of experience in IIoT, having built and led businesses spanning software platforms, connected hardware and end-customer applications, giving him a unique perspective on what customers and partners need to enable the rapid growth of their IIoT initiatives.

“Alistair’s appointment is a natural next step for Blues,” said Jim Hassman, president of Blues. “The IIoT market is fragmented by nature, comprised of use cases and customer challenges that span every industry and part of the supply chain. Alistair’s proven expertise in building and scaling IIoT businesses will be invaluable in Blues’ mission to drive the adoption of IIoT technologies in this complex global market.”

Fulton will focus initially on building a robust foundation for accelerated company growth, which encompasses overseeing the company’s ongoing expansion in priority market verticals, increasing awareness of Blues and facilitating the development of a vibrant partner ecosystem. 

“I joined Blues because I believe in the company’s mission of making IoT quick and easy,” said Fulton. “By providing a simple, cost-effective solution to the challenges of data connectivity, we unlock the potential of partners to drive growth and make the promise of the IIoT a reality for their customers. I’m honoured to join at such a critical time in the company’s mission to support communities and companies in transforming their operations to save time, money and improve the world.”

Most recently, Fulton led Semtech’s IoT division, building an ecosystem-led approach that drove LoRaWan from a market entrant to become the leading global low-power connectivity option for industrial and consumer IoT applications.

Previously, he led product management, technology and alliances for Hitachi’s Lumada IIoT platform, building an ecosystem of customers and partners spanning both Hitachi operating companies and providers of industrial equipment and services.

In his earlier career, Fulton led the incubation of Microsoft’s IoT business and supported the growth of the Azure IoT developer ecosystem by providing tools that enabled developers to build, deploy and manage end-to-end applications for the IoT across multiple technologies and platforms.

Fulton’s appointment follows a series of recent partnership announcements from Blues, with companies including 1NCE and RAK Wireless. With more than 800 global customers in industries such as manufacturing, clean tech, precision healthcare, refrigeration and precision agriculture, Blues (blues.io) is meeting a growing demand for adaptable connectivity with simple, secure, scalable and sustainable products and services.